Some great signs of progress

Monday

Feb 4, 2013 at 3:44 PM

It didn't take long for local residents to see their tax money in action.Terrebonne Parish voters in early December approved another half-cent sales tax to pay for work on the Morganza-to-the-Gulf hurricane-protection system.

It didn't take long for local residents to see their tax money in action.Terrebonne Parish voters in early December approved another half-cent sales tax to pay for work on the Morganza-to-the-Gulf hurricane-protection system.Already, the Terrebonne Levee District has approved the Bayou Little Caillou floodgate to enter its final design phase and the Pointe-aux-Chenes floodgate to enter preliminary design.That means work on the Little Caillou floodgate will be happening first, but that the process is in motion for two more integral parts of the whole system.Eventually, Morganza will provide some much-needed storm protection for Terrebonne Parish and parts of Lafourche.That work will be done using the tax money that was already in place, along with the news sales tax that voters approved in December.At some point, perhaps, the project will get a boost from federal money, but those prospects are far from certain. The Morganza plan has languished for years in a maze of federal bureaucracy with little hope of breaking through to receive approval and money from Congress and the Army Corps of Engineers.The most-recent movement on that front came last week as the corps collected public comments on its proposed Morganza plan, which has added dozens of miles of levees and significantly increased the design standards that will have to be used.The corps' latest plan comes in at an estimated $12.9 billion — a huge number that will require the local levee district and the state to come up with $3.6 billion to $4.5 billion for its share, and it is still doubtful that the federal agencies will allow the work being done now to count for the local and state match.So our best chance for significant flood protection is the local work that is already planned and now has a steady stream of money coming from the new sales tax.It is gratifying to see that the tax is already paying dividends in the form of work being done.Look for more of the same.Levee officials have promised an aggressive schedule of design and construction that was largely just waiting for enough tax money to build on the progress that's already been made.Our continued ability to live and work in coastal Louisiana will depend on this and many other projects that, together, should alleviate some of our risk of flooding. Nothing is going to make us completely safe, but we are attacking one of the greatest threats to our homes and businesses rather than simply waiting for the federal government.That has to be a good thing.

Editorials represent the opinions ofthe newspaper, not of any individual.

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